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Inspired by Tunisian demonstrators, thousands of Egyptian protesters on Tuesday gathered in Cairo and other major cities, calling for reforms and demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, The anti-government protesters, some hurling rocks and climbing atop an armoured police truck, were chanting slogans against Mubarak, who has ruled the country for three decades.Downtown Cairo came to a standstill with protesters chanting slogans against the police, the interior minister and the government, in scenes that the capital has not seen since the 1970s.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRtMZH9Ddm4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6inkfE1Gq6c

Police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters in the capital, Cairo. Several people are said to have been injured. More than 30,000 police have been mobilized in the city centre to launch a crackdown on the protesters. Some have gathered outside the Supreme Court, chanting slogans against President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for three decades, and his government. Protests have also been held in other parts of the country, including the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The events have been inspired by the recent revolution in Tunisia. "Zine El Abidine -> who is coming next?" the protesters shouted. Organizers say it is a day of revolt against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment.

Demonstrators marched toward what Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh called the "symbols of their complaints and their agony," the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party, the foreign ministry and the state television.

But police responded with blasts from a water cannon and set upon crowds with batons and acrid clouds of tear gas to clear demonstrators crying out "Down with Mubarak'' and demanding an end to the country's grinding poverty.At least 30 people have reportedly been arrested in Cairo, according to official sources.Protests also broke out in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the Nile Delta cities of Mansura and Tanta and in the southern cities of Aswan and Assiut, witnesses said.Earlier on Tuesday, Rageh reported from the protests, calling them "unprecedented" in the leniency showed by security forces who allowed demonstrators to march through the capital. The Egyptian government had earlier warned activists hoping to emulate Tunisian pro-democracy protesters that they faced arrest if they went ahead with Tuesday's mass demonstrations, which some labelled the "Day of wrath".

Promoted Online

The rallies have been promoted online by groups saying they speak for young Egyptians frustrated by the kind of poverty and oppression which triggered the overthrow of Tunisia's president. Mamdouh Khayrat, 23, travelled from the governorate of Qalubiya to attend protests in Cairo. He spoke to Al Jazeera's Adam Makary. "We want a functioning government, we want Mubarak to step down, we don't want emergency law, we don't want to live under this kind of oppression anymore," he said. "Enough is enough, things have to change, and if Tunisia can do it, why can't we?" Khayrat added.
Mohamed Ahmed, 36, a demonstrator from Boulaq told Al Jazeera's Makary: "We might be trying to copy what happened in Tunisia. If Egyptians manage to even come close to what they did then I can proudly say today was successful but we still have a long way to do."

"The reaction [to join the protest] has been overwhelming," Rageh said. "The people we have seen taken to the streets today are not the 50 or 60 activists that we have been seeing protesting in Egypt for the past five or six years. These were normal Egyptians, older women, younger men, even children."

A day of revolution

Black-clad riot police, backed by armoured vehicles and fire engines, have been deployed in a massive security operation in Cairo, with the biggest concentrations and likely flashpoints, including: the Cairo University campus, the central Tahrir Square and the courthouse where protesters are said to be gathering. Coinciding with a national holiday in honour of the police, a key force in keeping president Mubarak in power for 30 years, the outcome in Egypt on Tuesday is seen as a test on whether vibrant Web activism can translate into street action.

Organisers have called for a "day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment".
"Activists said they wanted to use this particular day to highlight the irony of celebrating Egypt's police at a time when police brutality is making headlines," reported Rawya Rageh, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Cairo.

"In fact, the call originated from a Facebook page initially set up to honour a 28-year-old man from Alexandria who activists say was tortured to death by police."Witnesses are telling us that there are hundreds on the streets. This is an indication that the protests seem so far to be larger than the usual protests that have taken place here in Egypt over the past few years."

Banned demonstrations

"The security apparatus will deal firmly and decisively with any attempt to break the law," the government's director for security in the capital Cairo said in a statement released ahead of the protests.
Since Egypt bans demonstrations without prior permission, opposition groups say they have been denied such permits, any protesters may be detained.

Habib el-Adli, the interior minister, has issued orders to "arrest any persons expressing their views illegally".
"I tell the public that this Facebook call comes from the youth," Adli said in an interview published by the state-owned newspaper al Ahram."Youth street action has no impact and security is capable of deterring any acts outside the law," he said, adding that he welcomed "stationary protests held for limited periods of time" and that police would protect the protesters.

"Beginning of the end"

"Our protest on the 25th is the beginning of the end," wrote organisers of a Facebook group with 87,000 followers.
"It is the end of silence, acquiescence and submission to what is happening in our country. It will be the start of a new page in Egypt's history, one of activism and demanding our rights."
Rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged Egypt's authorities "to allow peaceful protests".
Protests in Egypt, the biggest Arab state and a keystone Western ally in the Middle East, tend to be poorly attended and are often quashed swiftly by the police, who prevent marching.
The banned Muslim Brotherhood, seen as having Egypt's biggest grassroots opposition network, has not called on members to take part but said some would join in a personal capacity.
Organisers have called for protesters to not display political or religious affiliations at demonstrations. The Facebook page says: "Today is for all Egyptians."

Commenting on the wave of public unrest in Tunisia, Adli, the interior minister, said talk that the "Tunisian model" could work in other Arab countries was "propaganda" and had been dismissed by politicians as "intellectual immaturity"."Young people are very excited, and this time there will be much more than any other time," Ahmed Maher, one of the founders of the opposition youth movement said.
"This is going to be a real test of whether online activism in Egypt can translate into real action," Al Jazeera's Rageh reported.

"Anger has been on the rise in Egypt for the past couple of years, but we have seen similar calls fizzle out. The main difference now is that these calls are coming after what happened in Tunisia, which seems to have not only inspired activists, but actually ordinary Egyptians, a dozen of whom we have seen set themselves on fire in copycat self-immolations similar to the one that had sparked the uprising in Tunisia."

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Comments (42 of 42)

There are further reports with video reported on BBC website here. In the past few days the media had been suggesting these were rather low key, but it appears they are not because we have to remember that the State is so repressive in Egypt that few people would normally risk going out on the streets to protest which means now that there are thousands out this is really significant.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12273238

The Egyptian Interior Ministry said earlier today that no new demonstrations will be allowed . Three protesters died in the port city of Suez, east of Cairo, during Tuesday's unrest, and a policeman was also killed when he was hit in the head with a rock in Cairo, an interior ministry official said. Al Jareea reports that despite the ban demonstrations are continuing . More than 500 protesters have been arrested today .

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has expressed confidence in the government of Hosni Mubarak , but the financial markets do not seem so sure : the FT reports that the Egyptian bourse has plunged 4.2 per cent since the Tunisia-inspired protests .

Many protests in support of the demonstrations have been called across Europe. The Egyptian embassy in Ireland is located at 12 Clyde Road , Ballsbridge.

There are reports that Egypts president's son and family have fled to the UK. President Mubarak who has ruled Egypt for decades with an iron fist obviously feels his family will be welcome in Britain, a country which is a major exporter of arms and tools of repressive to many barbaic regimes like Mubaraks. Given the drift throughout all European countries and particulary the UK towards totalitarian police states over the past two decades, Mubarak and his extended family who have looted the country for years will certainly feel very much at home.

The reports state

The jet with Mubarak, his family and 97 pieces of luggage on board left for London on Tuesday from an airport in western Cairo, according to the US-based Akhbar al-Arab .....

......Over 30,000 anti-government protesters had gathered. in Cairo's Maidan al-Tahrir square to take part in the 'day of anger', the spokesman for Egypt's '6 April' opposition movement, Mohammed Adel, told Adnkronos International (AKI) in an interview.

"Police used tear gas and water canon to break up our protest and they arrested 40 of us, but we don't have official figures on the numbers of arrests across Egypt," said Adel.

Protestors are promising to hold the biggest demonstrations yet tomorrow after weekly prayers.
'Egypt's Muslims and Christians will go out to fight against corruption, unemployment and oppression and absence of freedom,' wrote an activist on a Facebook page.http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0127/egypt.html

Up the revolution . Hopefully the disease will spread to these gangster shores as well .
A solidarity demo has been called for tomorrow 3-5pm at the Egyptian embassy .
Location:
Egyptian Embassy, 12 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ireland
see :http://www.indymedia.ie/article/98749

6 dead, police station burned, government building set on fire, thousands on streets, many injured, many detained... Tomorrow there is expected to be more than 1 million in Cairo, let alone many more in other cities. Change is in the air indeed.

What kicked off in Tunisia has spread to Egypt, and now also to Yemen...

Guardian are doing live update timelines with all the main infos coming in as they happen. Also one of their reporters was arrested, phone taken away, packed into truck with many more and eventually broke free with other protesters, he had a second mobile hidden and managed to get a live audio report out, quite an amazing audio article:

a US/Israeli sig-int operation from offshore. Recall the uss liberty, taken out in 1967 lest it read and pre-empt Israeli plans for blitzkreig. Israel was still cognizant of US halter on Suez operation and did not want a re-run. Uncle Sam settled down to the inversion of the relationship after that and is now a happily married and decidedly uxorious spouse of AIPAC.

The 34 dead and 174 wounded were buried in a mass grave, under the Oval Office carpet.

Death toll stands at 95 at present, likely to increase. Army patrolling the streets, police stepped down. Cerfew called for 4pm local time (2pm GMT), likely to be disobeyed by the very angry Egyptians. Already 50,000 gathered in the main square Tehererin and growing, streets packed with people leading there. News just in that party headquarters in Luxor have just been torched (Al Jazeera).

Jan25 Voices: http://twitter.com/jan25voices
We are using phones and other means to speak with Egyptians behind the blocked internet, tweeting their words in real time. contact: Jan25voices(at)gmail.com

In 20 minutes time we will see how the revolt panns out, will the army remain with Mubarek or go with the people? The cerfew will come into place officallly at 13h GMT, State TV in Egypt has stated that anyone in the streets will be in danger. People chanting 'the army & the people are one' and are giving the soldiers flowers, the army in their tanks are waving at the people and heeding the commands of the protesters by going down sides as directed, instead of crossing the principal bridge of the cerity, 6 of december bridge. There are reports that 8 more people have just been killed outside a prison were political prisoners are being held (presume the numbers of arrested over last 5 days is in the many thousands).

Death toll is now over 100.

The people still remain defiant, nothing short of the stepping down of Mubarek will do.

..the cavalry to try and head off the rebellion and adopt a stance of leadership towards reform. Lot of dollars down that drain if it gets out of hand, and I'd say Israel is more worried than it has been for while. The Pharaoh totters. But he could totter on like Mugabe for a while longer.

Its gonna cut back on their rendition destinations if the wrong half of the military takes it. If they can do the usual cosmetic plausible transition it will remain business as usual. Rumbles in Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon cranking up.

The protesters who attacked the bank building in a Cairo suburb have been turned back by the army, who used tanks and fired shots into the air. The protesters, who were using wooden planks to try to break into the buiding, fled after seeing the tanks approach and hearing the shots.
by Reuters_RossChainey at 15:58

2.23pm: Thousands of people are continuing to protest after the start of the extended curfew at 4pm (2pm GMT), Reuters reports.
Defying an army warning that anyone violating the order would be in danger, the crowds thronged in central Cairo and in Alexandria.
"It does not feel like there is a curfew, I can see thousands marching next to me," a witness from Alexandria told the news agency.

funeral procession of one man shot by police outside of Egyptian interior ministry

And where, do tell, does America, derive this right to impose its verdict as to what is better or worse?

Dictated democracy is an oxymoron. Go see a movie. In fact try ' in the Valley of Elah' for a scope on the consequences. You can rent it cheap.Well cheaper than flying to Iraq for a full frontal assault.

Egyptian activists have been circulating a kind of primer to Friday's planned protest. We were sent the plan by two separate sources and have decided to publish excerpts here, with translations into English. Over Twitter, we connected with a translator, who translated the document with exceptional speed.

What follows are side-by-side translations of nine pages from the 26-page pamphlet. They were translated over the last hour and pasted up in Photoshop to give you an idea of what's in the protest plan. While the plan itself contains specifics about what protesters might do, these excerpts show how one might equip oneself for clashes with riot police...

I was beaten yesterday by security; you can see where they broke my rib. But I don't care – just look around you. The energy of the Egyptians is amazing. We're saying no to unemployment, no to police brutality, no to poverty.

We saw how scared Mubarak and his regime was; they're being forced to listen to the people. Now the army is with us too, I'm sure of it. The job isn't completed yet but we're not losing any momentum. These protests will continue day after day until every bit of the regime falls.

The psychological barrier between us and our president has been broken by teargas; the government created this uprising, and now they will face the consequences.
___________________________________________________

MOHAMED EL-GAZZAR
Works in marketing for a telecoms company, 37

I didn't come out on to the streets yesterday because it was a mess . But today feels different. The new regime will ensure our voices are heard. We mustn't forget the role of the US and the UK in all of this. The hypocrisy of [President] Obama was amazing; your western capitals have supported this regime from the very beginning – now suddenly everybody is concerned for our rights and economic security. Where were they before?

by Al Jazeera - the revolution is being televised and tweetedSun Jan 30, 2011 10:54

Regarding how important is the medias portrayel of the revolution, and how important Al Jazeera has been in getting the truth out from the streets to the world (and thereby informing and directing critical world opinion) now we see a further move of communication restriction...

The government plans to shut down al-Jazeera's operations in Egypt. Presently the live stream is not working : - (

9.38am: The government plans to shut down al-Jazeera's operations in Egypt, according to Reuters, citing the state news agency Mana.

"The information minister ordered ... suspension of operations of al-Jazeera, cancelling of its licences and withdrawing accreditation to all its staff as of today," a statement said.

The New York Times reports on the influential role of al-Jazeera in the protests.

The station was the first to report that the governing party's headquarters were set on fire. Breathless phone reports came in from Jazeera correspondents in towns across Egypt. Live footage from Cairo alternated with action shots that played again and again. Orchestral music played, conveying the sense of a long-awaited drama.

Al Jazeera kept up its coverage despite serious obstacles. The broadcaster's separate live channel was removed from its satellite platform by the Egyptian government on Friday morning, its Cairo bureau had its telephones cut and its main news channel also faced signal interference, according to a statement released by the station. The director of the live channel issued an appeal to the Egyptian government to allow it to broadcast freely.

Al Jazeera has denounced the closure of its Cairo bureau. In a statement it said:

Al-Jazeera sees this as an act designed to stifle and repress the freedom of reporting by the network and its journalists. In this time of deep turmoil and unrest in Egyptian society it is imperative that voices from all sides be heard; the closing of our bureau by the Egyptian government is aimed at censoring and silencing the voices of the Egyptian people...

Al Jazeera Network is appalled at this latest attack by the Egyptian regime to strike at its freedom to report independently on the unprecedented events in Egypt."

"Al Jazeera journalists have brought unparallelled reporting from the ground from across Egypt in the face of great danger and extraordinary circumstances. Al Jazeera Network is appalled at this latest attack by the Egyptian regime to strike at its freedom to report independently on the unprecedented events in Egypt."

Al Jazeera denounced the closure of its bureau, saying the move was designed to stifle free reporting

Egypt: 150+ dead, 4000 injured. Mosques being used as make shift hospitals, hospitals calling for people to donate blood to cope. Al Jazeera (by far the best at covering the affairs from the ground) live vid stream via satelitte shut down. Recently the authorities have reached AJ`s reporters, angry confrontations, their phones were bugged, AJ not naming its corespondents for safety reasons now. Perhaps already some have been lifted by mubareks cops. Mubarek has met with military guard. Reports (via tweets) that all people heading into town are being checked for weapons by army. Some report of firing into the air. It does not look good. Many planes are being sent from other countries to take people from their countries out, US, turkey, india, uk (have they been told something highly confidential that we havent been told?)

Today looks like the day it will go one way or the other. Will it be a Tienenamen day or a Berlin day? Still Obama refuses to demand "DEMOCRACY" for Egypt (as he has often quoted in other areas as being the most important thing).

Victory to those on the streets, pushing for a true peoples revolution. "MUBAREK HAS TO GO"

Best way to stay tuned is to follow AJ twitter feed and #EGYPT on twitter:

What the Gulf War was to CNN, the people’s revolutions of the Middle East are to Al Jazeera English. But in the U.S., in a sad vestige of the era of Freedom Fries, hardly anyone can watch the channel on cable TV. Cable companies: Add Al Jazeera English NOW!

It is downright un-American to still refuse to carry it. Vital, world-changing news is occurring in the Middle East and no one–not the xenophobic or celebrity-obsessed or cut-to-the-bone American media–can bring the perspective, insight, and on-the-scene reporting Al Jazeera English can.
__________________

meanwhile, back in Egypt:

"We should have taken steps before with this channel since it has caused more destruction than Israel for Egypt," governor of Minya province, Ahmed Diaeddin, raged on state TV. "I call for the trial of Al Jazeera correspondents as traitors."

"Mubarak Out – Get Out", and "Your regime is over, Mubarak" have now been plastered on almost every Egyptian tank on the streets of Cairo. On one of the tanks circling Freedom Square was a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Beltagi. Earlier, I had walked beside a convoy of tanks near the suburb of Garden City as crowds scrambled on to the machines to hand oranges to the crews, applauding them as Egyptian patriots. However crazed Mubarak's choice of vice-president and his gradual appointment of a powerless new government of cronies, the streets of Cairo proved what the United States and EU leaders have simply failed to grasp. It is over.

Cairo, Egypt—I grew up in Egypt. I spent half my life here. But Saturday, when my plane from JFK airport touched down in Cairo, I arrived in a different country than the one I had known all my life. This is not Hosni Mubarak’s Egypt anymore and, regardless of what happens, it will never be again.

A large group of well-reputed American academics calls for the US leader to demand swift change in Egypt:

Dear President Obama:

As political scientists, historians, and researchers in related fields who have studied the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, we the undersigned believe you have a chance to move beyond rhetoric to support the democratic movement sweeping over Egypt. As citizens, we expect our president to uphold those values.

For thirty years, our government has spent billions of dollars to help build and sustain the system the Egyptian people are now trying to dismantle. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Egypt and around the world have spoken. We believe their message is bold and clear: Mubarak should resign from office and allow Egyptians to establish a new government free of his and his family’s influence. It is also clear to us that if you seek, as you said Friday “political, social, and economic reforms that meet the aspirations of the Egyptian people,” your administration should publicly acknowledge those reforms will not be advanced by Mubarak or any of his adjutants.

There is another lesson from this crisis, a lesson not for the Egyptian government but for our own. In order for the United States to stand with the Egyptian people it must approach Egypt through a framework of shared values and hopes, not the prism of geostrategy. On Friday you rightly said that “suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.” For that reason we urge your administration to seize this chance, turn away from the policies that brought us here, and embark on a new course toward peace, democracy and prosperity for the people of the Middle East. And we call on you to undertake a comprehensive review of US foreign policy on the major grievances voiced by the democratic opposition in Egypt and all other societies of the region.

Sincerely,
Jason Brownlee, University of Texas at Austin
Joshua Stacher, Kent State University
Tamir Moustafa, Simon Fraser University
Arang Keshavarzian, New York University
Clement Henry, University of Texas at Austin
Robert Springborg, Naval Postgraduate School
Jillian Schwedler, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Noam Chomsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
...

At present news is coming in that now the state thugs (both cops in civilian clothes as well as people paid big money to clear the anti-mubarek protesters) are targetting foreigners and media, already some have been beaten. Al Jazeera still refuses to give names on air of its journalists. Also the thugs are targeting the supply chain coming into tahrirn square, a women was on air talking abou how she was stopped by plain clothes men when she was going into the square with a bag full of bottles of water, she left the water and went away very frightened.

People behind the barracades are very frightened but totally prepared to battle, if they have to, to the death. The feel that if they leave that they will be targetted and picked off one by one.

3.08pm: Lindsey Hilsum of Channel 4 News is reporting that Hosni Mubarak is going to transfer his powers to Omar Suleiman, his vice-president, tonight. More as soon as I get it.

Hilsum reports that Hossam Badrawi, the secretary general of Mubarak's NDP party, has told her in that over three meetings yesterday and a phone call today he convinced Mubarak to stand down and hand his powers to Suleiman. He will do this in a broadcast tonight, she says.

I am also hearing conflicting rumours that Mubarak will use a speech on TV tonight to hand his powers to the army. It is unclear if this will mean martial law to clear the protests, or a permanent exit for the president. Badrawi has told BBC Arabic that Mubarak will "answer the people's demands" in the coming hours. My colleague Jack Shenker told me: "Protesters aren't certain whether they should be preparing themselves for a celebration party or a massacre."

If it is true that Mubarak is going to step down tonight and Suleiman is going to take over then the Egyptian people should reject him too outright.

Suleiman is a terrorist just like Mubarak. And why? Because they both have terrorized the people of Egypt for years. The Egyptian people should be very suspicious of anyone accepted by the military because that would just be a continuation of the status quo and very little will change. There might be some initial freedoms but the military will quickly roll these back.

4.02pm (GMT): Omar Suleiman is making a statement now. "President Hosni Mubarak has decided to waive the office of the republic."

300+ dead, many thousands injured, millions lost their fear and stood their ground, they held that ground "liberation square" despite ongoing attack of petrol bombs, rifle sniping fired from and rocks thrown from the rooftops,,, But, they won. Mubarek has gone. Well done to Egypt, now we will see where else this flame of justice spreads to in the middle east.